


Love, Among Other Things

by soseji



Series: The Ties That Bind [1]
Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Daniel is broke, M/M, Ong just didn't get the memo, company!AU, fake relationship!au, no real feelings should've been involved
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-13 05:36:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11753148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soseji/pseuds/soseji
Summary: To Seongwoo, Kang Daniel is a liability with expiration date attached.





	Love, Among Other Things

Objectively, Seongwoo had the best ideas.

His mind was all things imaginable jumbled into one—often disjointed, sometimes far-fetched, but always brilliant. It whirred constantly and stopped only when Seongwoo was sleeping his dreamless sleep. He was witty, restlessly stealing inspiration from the most mundane things and turned it into something new that people swore had never thought of before. He made a good creative director.

Generally, Hwang Minhyun had the best intuition.

He made the best decision and he chose the best people. He knew what he was doing and he had never let anything resembled emotion cloud his judgement, which was why having him as your partner would automatically put to rest the worry whether you were making it or breaking it. He was, as far as Seongwoo knew, the most perfect embodiment of calculating and following gut instincts. He was the best executive director they could have.

Together, they were one formidable team.

Seongwoo should have remembered his mother's odd saying that even otters could drown.

The acquisition had been Seongwoo's suggestion, so to speak. Their advertising company was a burgeoning one in the field with media hyping them up as an agency built by youngins with fresh ideas and didn't really play by the book and its old rules. To row while it was flooding had proven to be the right thing to do every time because moment was something you wouldn't encounter twice, not in their world. They needed more resources, and fast—they had to expand the size of Sonagi.

"We can't spend much time to train people and we can't really afford the best out there," Seongwoo told Minhyun on one particularly nice evening over pizza and cans of Coke on the building's roof garden. "We need ones who know what they're doing and can work things out the moment they sign the contract."

His old friends' eyes told Seongwoo that he had an inkling as to where he was heading with this conversation. But of course, it wouldn't be Hwang Minhyun if he wasn't going to make Seongwoo spell it out. 

"Experienced and is okay with minimum wager... Seongwoo-ya, no one is that desperate."

Seongwoo smirked like he had expected it. He proceeded to pull out a stack of paper from seemingly out of nowhere.

"I've compiled and sorted all companies in Seoul that are on the verge of bankruptcy. The #1 on the list is the best chance for us."

The list topper was MMO and that was a surprise to no one. MMO was once a small-scale steel industry in its earlier years until one day, its owner foresaw that mass media was an imperative tool for many things in the future and decided to reform his whole company. They primarily worked in printed ads and had been quite prominent before the death of the heir happened. Then, it was like series of unfortunate events afterwards—unpaid debt, incapable mid and top management, fraud done by their two employees, and the lack of promising CEO candidates (if there were any) were all the forces that sunk MMO to where it was now, which was rock bottom.

The next day, it was brought up to the meeting in which the rest of company founders attended. They reviewed everything they could get their hands on about MMO's structure and history. SWOT was assessed thoroughly until they couldn't find anything more meaningless than 'their office's cafeteria offers delicious _japchae_ ' and half their meeting was used to discuss MMO's internal affairs (courtesy of Choi Minki who sent the juicy e-mails real-time from his office at The Korea Times).

Finally, on the third month, when they were lounging around in Minhyun's penthouse drinking cider (because God forbid they gulping down anything stronger in the presence of Yoo Seonho), it was finalized. All the legal aspects would be handled and taken care by their trusted lawyer.

 

* * *

 

See, Kim Jonghyun was an angel. No, really. He was. He rarely raised his voice and one of the only few times he did, it was to his new assistant. Not a minute later though, he regretted it like he had kicked a puppy out of boredom. Jonghyun didn't find most gag show funny because more often than not, it always looked like it caused bodily pain to the comedians involved. He helped the elderly crossing streets and he touched their hand when talking to them. Jonghyun was your poster boy for model citizen.

He was also a merciless corporate lawyer.

(Jaehwan once joked that they all had sacrificed minuscule part of their humanity and would continue to do so because this world they lived in and for, was cold and heartless. Seongwoo didn't want to admit that Jaehwan was _probably_ right. Only probably)

Jonghyun spent no less than three days to prepare the paper, which was expected of him. And much to Jaehwan's funding butt delight, he also came up with strings of deal with no loopholes that would guarantee that the expense needed for the acquisition would be amounting way less that they had previously allocated. Kwon Hyunbin, Jonghyun's assistant-slash-secretary-slash-apprentice who looked like he should be parading Alexander McQueen's fall collection instead of spewing out a bunch of jargon that showed he was a law school graduate, had presented the Terms of Agreement and explained each point in detailed fashion, even went as far as creating imaginary cases in which they could exploit all 20 points to their advantage.

Minhyun looked so impressed Seongwoo almost thought he had an instant crush on the guy.

"I called their lawyer and they agreed to hold the first meeting tomorrow." Jonghyun smiled.

"They have a lawyer?". _They still have a lawyer?_ , was more like it but Seongwoo was raised with impeccable manner, thank you very much.

"A Chungnam graduate and the Kangs' family friend", Hyunbin answered. " _Mostly_ family friend, if I were to describe him."

And the two men sitting in front of him —one had warm eyes with disarming smile and one was chic with disinterested gaze— graduated from the most respectable colleges in the entire Korean Peninsula. Everything should be fine.

 

* * *

 

Except it wasn't fine, as Seongwoo discovered later.

The meetings had been great, if one were to see it from Sonagi's point of view. Not much objection from MMO's side and everytime it occured, Jonghyun would tear it apart in a matter-of-fact manner that left no room for further debate. Seongwoo hadn't always been in attendance because of his prior engagements every once in while, but he knew MMO was theirs the moment they wrapped up the second meeting.

The CEO was an old man; reaching his 70s and was battling with stage IV cancer. Seongwoo felt honest-to-god bad for him because although his conditions was a benefiting factor to the acquisition, he just couldn't imagine having something you built and had owned, and nurtured for _decades_ was handed to a group of complete strangers; younger and yet more ruthless, and that you'd leave the world knowing you'd lost it all.

Add to that the fact that his grandson was not really a young man mothers would want as their son-in-law—at least, according to Seongwoo. 

"The company is dying and he's nowhere to be seen," Seongwoo clucked his tongue.

"I don't think he's an asshole like you just implied," Minhyun said thoughtfully. "Minki did say the CEO was so protective of him. So, he never came possibly because his grandfather didn't allow him to."

Which kind of made sense. Kang Daniel was the CEO's only family, following the tragic death of his son and daughter-in-law years ago. He was shipped to Canada to study when he was younger but had never been prepped to be the next owner of MMO. He came home, maybe for good, when he heard his grandfather's condition had worsened.

 _It wasn't like he had something going for him in Canada_ , Seongwoo remembered Minki saying.

It wasn't like there was anything left for him in Seoul, either. But, again, Minki did say that there wasn't much he could gather regarding Kang Daniel's private life.

_I'm ashamed to announce that I haven't succeeded in finding his latest photos. I don't even know where he studied or if he even entered university._

He was probably busy partying, spending the last drops of his inheritance and not giving a flying fuck to what was happening around him. That, or he was holed up somewhere nursing his crumbling life. On a second thought, Kang Daniel probably had a girlfriend here in South Korea who kept him grounded after all the disaster his family had gone through. Girls were usually attracted to tortured souls and even more so, he lived abroad at some point in his life. Ladies dug that kind of detail.

Anyway.

Kang Daniel wasn't an integral part of this acquisition and thus, important he was not. The last meeting would be for final signing and his, along with Minhyun's, Jaehwan's, and Sungwoon's presence were needed. 

"Especially you, Seongwoo-ya."

That, there, was strange because of course he'd be there. But it seemed that his attendance was emphasized? He also didn't know what to make of Jonghyun's eyes.

"Okay." Seongwoo eyed the lawyer warily. "You know I will be there, being one of the founders and everything."

From the corner of his eyes, Jaehwan bit his lower lip, Sungwoon was playing with his glasses, and Minhyun could masterfully guide his expression however he wanted because he was rather remarkable like that but Seongwoo knew better.

"The CEO personally made sure that you'll be in attendance. I told him that you will even without anyone's request but he, uh, insisted?"

It should have sent ominous signal but Seongwoo had managed to brush it off as a mere discomfort over such a sudden request.

It was not.

Seongwoo was now sitting in a room he was certain he had never seen and he thought he had visited all three floors and rooms. But when he really looked around, he could guess why.

Minhyun's father had one like this, though his was adjacent to his large office and was only separated by a sliding door. It was mostly a resting place, Minhyun had once told him. Filled with family photos and other personal mementos the room felt, as it was supposed to be, personal. Sometimes you couldn't even go home because of your workload and the room was made for that. Some even had bed in it.

Kang CEO's was no different. Seongwoo could smell pine scent coming from the humidifier, somewhere. There was no bed, just a Lay-Z and fluffy looking sofa. There were photographs of him alone, a man in his wedding suit (couldn't be Kang CEO, though), him with one woman and one man probably in their thirties (his deceased son and daughter-in-law?), and him with a chubby kid practically hanging on his neck.

Seongwoo took that particular picture and observed as the little boy's eyes disappearing into tiny crescents when he laughed. _His front teeth are cute_ , he mused distractedly. _Is this his grandson? Is this Kang Daniel?_

"That would be my grandson."

Unsurprised both by the voice and by the fact that he had guessed right, Seongwoo put the frame back.

"We've never met him." Seongwoo smiled after giving the old man a 90-degree bow.

"And you will."

Seongwoo raised his eyebrows but said nothing. Instead, he watched the figure in front of him closely. He could catch grief, a dash of sadness, and a whole lot of resignation. But other than that, he gave an air of someone who had finally made a peace with his life and everything that happened throughout it. Seongwoo saw _serenity_.

"This company... The building and everything inside is yours, Ong Seongwoo. _Will be_  you and your friends', if you would be so kind to grant this old man his one last wish."

  

* * *

 

Fuming, Seongwoo blasted the meeting room's door open; all gritted teeth and balled fists.

"What the fuck is this all about?"

"Seongwoo-ya-" Sungwoon started.

"Is this makjang? Is this even real? I thought we were all professionals who were dealing with company matters and suddenly I'm about to marry _Kang Daniel_?"

Kang CEO's trembling voice was still oh-so-clear in his head, as if he said it to his ear over and over again and it was rapidly driving Seongwoo insane.

_"I trust you with this company and this company has been my life and now I'm going to trust you with my treasure."_

Except his treasure was his grandson and Ong Seongwoo wasn't getting married anytime soon and most definitely, not to Kang Daniel. Kang CEO could say literally anything he want to reason with him (" _Daniel has no one, he has nothing, he's now lost and clueless and doesn't have someone to hold on to"_ , etc. etc.) and Seongwoo would still think the whole concept was nothing short of ludicrous.

And then Kang CEO started to talk about the agreement. That there was one clause; the last clause propositioned by the CEO himself and was brought up by their lawyer Yoon Jisung. The clause that was the definition of take it or leave it. The clause that no one had seen coming because of how nonsensical it was.

"It was last minute, we suspected. He could have been preparing all this time for all we know." Jonghyun stood up from his chair and walked towards Seongwoo. "He cancelled all his previous terms regarding the acquisition and rewrote a new one."

The marriage was the new term. Kang CEO had agreed to pay the debt with the money coming from his personal assets instead of going with 30% - 70%. He would also be giving up his customer database which he adamantly held on to before this day, because the database contained the 10% who were his longest and most influential customers. It was the list that would be a game changer.

"This is not an acquisition anymore. To put it simply, he's giving it for free."

"Why me?" Seongwoo breathed.

"He knew this was your idea."

He wasn't really listening to Minhyun anymore as his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of movement from the doorway. 

 

* * *

 

Apart from his bunny teeth, Kang Daniel looked vastly different from his toddler version. The adult one sported honey blond hair and earring in each lobe. He was just slightly taller than Seongwoo with shoulders so broad it gave him an imposing image.

Now they were sitting in a smaller meeting room away from prying eyes, but Kang Daniel still refused to look at Seongwoo in the eye. Seongwoo didn't even know it was possible, but his gesture right now made him even angrier.

"Are we going to talk or am I going to watch you staring at your atrocious holey pants?" Seongwoo demanded coldly and yet, so scornfully.

Daniel drew a breath before whispering a soft "I'm sorry."

At this point, Seongwoo knew he had reached way past his boiling point. He could only pinch the bridge of his nose and sighed. He was _drained_.

"Just— God... I don't know anymore. Do you even want to get married?"

At this, Daniel looked up and they were finally eye-to-eye. _He's actually got soft features_ , Seongwoo idly remarked. The vibe given by his built and his face was so disconnected in a staggering way. Under another circumstances, Seongwoo caught himself wondering, _would I be attracted to him?_

"Does it matter?"

Seongwoo's eyes turned into slits. 

"Yes, it does. Now go to your grandfather and tell him you're a free man and you are not getting married."

"I don't want to get married; I want to make him happy." Daniel brought his hands to his face. At first, he only rubbed it slowly but the stress caught on him fast and now he was clawing at it. "I went with him two days ago to the hospital and I... it's hopeless, now. It won't be long before he leave me. So please, _please_ , give him this one time. He deserves to feel content for once."

Seongwoo understood. He still didn't want any marriage to happen to him and that was what he told Daniel.

"At your expense? I'm sure you have a lot of things you want to pursue, Kang Daniel. Surely, those things aren't pertained to us being united in matrimony. Christ, you don't even know me. Why would anyone want to be with someone they don't even know? Might as well throw yourself in jail as there aren't many differences."

So perhaps it wasn't completely hopeless. Seongwoo knew because right away, he could discern something akin to epiphany flashed across Kang Daniel's distant eyes. He agreed. He knew Seongwoo was right, and Seongwoo waited.

"They said it's six months left." he pondered, tentatively. The words looked like it hurt him physically so Seongwoo just quieted. " _Haraboji_ 's time... They said it's only six months."

 _I'm sorry_ , Seongwoo wanted to say and he'd say it genuinely.

"We don't have to get married this instant, do we, Ong Seongwoo-sshi?"

 

* * *

 

They would get married in seven months, as they told the old ex-magnate.

If Kang CEO suspected anything, he didn't show it. Instead, he accepted that his grandson and Ong Seongwoo were strangers and no strangers marry each other within weeks after they met. So, arrangements were made.

Daniel would live with Seongwoo in his apartment. They'd make calls to wedding vendors for invitation, place, catering, and suits immediately and Kang CEO would see it done. Daniel would work in Sonagi, most likely under Sungwoon because as it turned out, he did study communication in college albeit never finished for whatever reason Seongwoo didn't care to learn.

And after Kang CEO's departure, they'd break it off.

 


End file.
